Pharaohs In Dixieland – How 19th-Century America Reimagined Egypt To Justify Racism And Slavery

In the American South, ancient Egypt and its pharaohs became a way to justify slavery. Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis via Getty Images

BY CHARLES VANTHOURNOUT

PH.D STUDENT IN ANCIENT HISTORY,

UNIVERSITE DE LORRAINE

When Napoleon embarked upon a military expedition into Egypt in 1798, he brought with him a team of scholars, scientists and artists. Together, they produced the monumental “Description de l’Égypte,” a massive, multivolume work about Egyptian geography, history and culture.

At the time, the United States was a young nation with big aspirations, and Americans often viewed their country as an heir to the great civilizations of the past. The tales of ancient Egypt that emerged from Napoleon’s travels became a source of fascination to Americans, though in different ways.

In the slaveholding South, ancient Egypt and its pharaohs became a way to justify slavery. For abolitionists and African Americans, biblical Egypt served as a symbol of bondage and liberation.

As a historian, I study how 19th-century Americans – from Southern intellectuals to Black abolitionists – used ancient Egypt to debate questions of race, civilization and national identity. My research traces how a distorted image of ancient Egypt shaped competing visions of freedom and hierarchy in a deeply divided nation.

Egypt inspires the pro-slavery South

In 1819, when lawyer John Overton, military officer James Winchester and future president Andrew Jackson founded a city in Tennessee along the Mississippi River, they christened it Memphis, after the ancient Egyptian capital.

While promoting the new city, Overton declared of the Mississippi River that ran alongside it: “This noble river may, with propriety, be denominated the American Nile.”

“Who can tell that she may not, in time, rival … her ancient namesake, of Egypt in classic elegance and art?” The Arkansas Banner excitedly reported.

In the region’s fertile soil, Chancellor William Harper, a jurist and pro-slavery theorist from South Carolina, saw the promise of an agricultural empire built on slavery, one “capable of being made a far greater Egypt.”

There was a reason pro-slavery businessmen and thinkers were energized by the prospect of an American Egypt: Many Southern planters imagined themselves as guardians of a hierarchical and aristocratic system, one grounded in landownership, tradition and honor. As Alabama newspaper editor William Falconer put it, he and his fellow white Southerners belonged to a “race that had established law, order, and government on earth.”

To them, Egypt represented the archetype of a great hierarchical civilization. Older than Athens or Rome, Egypt conferred a special legitimacy. And just like the pharaohs, the white elites of the South saw themselves as the stewards of a prosperous society sustained by enslaved labor.

Leading pro-slavery thinkers like Virginia social theorist George Fitzhugh, South Carolina lawyer and U.S. Senator Robert Barnwell Rhett and Georgia lawyer and politician Thomas R.R. Cobb all invoked Egypt as an example to follow.

“These [Egyptian] monuments show negro slaves in Egypt at least 1,600 years before Christ,” Cobb wrote in 1858. “That they were the same happy negroes of this day is proven by their being represented in a dance 1,300 years before Christ.”

A distorted view of history

But their view of history didn’t exactly square with reality. Slavery did exist in ancient Egypt, but most slaves had been originally captured as prisoners of war.

The country never developed a system of slavery comparable to that of Greece or Rome, and servitude was neither race-based nor tied to a plantation economy. The mistaken notion that Egypt’s great monuments were built by slaves largely stems from ancient authors and the biblical account of the Hebrews. Later, popular culture – especially Hollywood epics – would continue to advance this misconception.

Nonetheless, 19th-century Southern intellectuals drew on this imagined Egypt to legitimize slavery as an ancient and divinely sanctioned institution.

Even after the Civil War, which ended in 1865, nostalgia for these myths of ancient Egypt endured. In 1877, former Confederate officer Edward Fontaine noted how “Veritable specimens of black, woolyheaded negroes are represented by the old Egyptian artists in chains, as slaves, and even singing and dancing, as we have seen them on Southern plantations in the present century.”

Turning Egypt white

But to claim their place among the world’s great civilizations, Southerners had to reconcile a troubling fact: Egypt was located in Africa, the ancestral land of those enslaved in the U.S.

In response, an intellectual movement called the American School of Ethnology – which promoted the idea that races had separate, unequal origins to justify Black inferiority and slavery – set out to “whiten” Egypt.

In a series of texts and lectures, they portrayed Egypt as a slaveholding civilization dominated by whites. They pointed to Egyptian monuments as proof of the greatness that a slave society could achieve. And they also promoted a scientifically discredited theory called “polygenesis,” which argued that Black people did not descend from the Bible’s Adam, but from some other source.

Richard Colfax, the author of the 1833 pamphlet “Evidence Against the Views of the Abolitionists,” insisted that “the Egyptians were decidedly of the Caucasian variety of men.” Most mummies, he added, “bear not the most distant resemblance to the negro race.”

Physician Samuel George Morton cited “Crania Aegyptiaca,” an 1822 German study of Egyptian skulls, to reinforce this view. Writing in the Charleston Medical Journal in 1851, he explained how the German study had concluded that the skulls mirrored those of Europeans in size and shape. In doing so, it established “the negro his true position as an inferior race.”

Physician Josiah C. Nott, Egyptologist George Gliddon and physician and propagandist John H. Van Evrie formed an effective triumvirate: Through press releases and public lectures featuring the skulls of mummies, they turned Egyptology into a tool of pro-slavery propaganda.

“The Negro question was the one I wished to bring out,” Nott wrote, adding that he “embalmed it in Egyptian ethnography.”

Nott and Gliddon’s 1854 bestseller “Types of Mankind” fused pseudoscience with Egyptology to both “prove” Black inferiority and advance the idea that their beloved African civilization was populated by a white Egyptian elite.

“Negroes were numerous in Egypt,” they write, “but their social position in ancient times was the same that it now is, that of servants and slaves.”

Denouncing America’s pharaohs

This distorted vision of Egypt, however, wasn’t the only one to take hold in the U.S., and abolitionists saw this history through a decidedly different lens.

In the Bible, Egypt occupies a central place, mentioned repeatedly as a land of refuge – notably for Joseph – but also as a nation of idolatry and as the cradle of slavery.

The episode of the Exodus is perhaps the most famous reference. The Hebrews, enslaved under an oppressive pharaoh, are freed by Moses, who leads them to the Promised Land, Canaan. This biblical image of Egypt as a land of bondage deeply shaped 19th-century moral and political debates: For many abolitionists, it represented the ultimate symbol of tyranny and human oppression.

When the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on Jan. 1, 1863, Black people could be heard singing in front of the White House, “Go down Moses, way down in Egypt Land … Tell Jeff Davis to let my people go.”

Black Americans seized upon this biblical parallel. Confederate President Jefferson Davis was a contemporary pharaoh, with Moses still the prophet of liberation.

African American writers and activists like Phillis Wheatley and Sojourner Truth also invoked Egypt as a tool of emancipation.

“God has implanted in every human heart a principle which we call the love of liberty,” Wheatley wrote in a 1774 letter. “It is impatient with oppression and longs for deliverance; and with the permission of our modern Egyptians, I will assert that this same principle lives in us.”

Yet the South’s infatuation with Egypt shows how antiquity can always be recast to serve the powerful. And it’s a reminder that the past is far from neutral terrain – that there is rarely, if ever, a ceasefire in wars over history and memory.

READ ORIGINAL STORY HERE

Toxic Fungus From King Tutankhamun’s Tomb Yields Cancer-Fighting Compounds – New Study

BY JUSTIN STEBBING

PROFESSOR OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES,

ANGLIA RUSKIN UN IVERSITY

In November 1922, archaeologist Howard Carter peered through a small hole into the sealed tomb of King Tutankhamun. When asked if he could see anything, he replied: “Yes, wonderful things.” Within months, however, Carter’s financial backer Lord Carnarvon was dead from a mysterious illness. Over the following years, several other members of the excavation team would meet similar fates, fuelling legends of the “pharaoh’s curse” that have captivated the public imagination for just over a century.

For decades, these mysterious deaths were attributed to supernatural forces. But modern science has revealed a more likely culprit: a toxic fungus known as Aspergillus flavus. Now, in an unexpected twist, this same deadly organism is being transformed into a powerful new weapon in the fight against cancer.

Aspergillus flavus is a common mould found in soil, decaying vegetation and stored grains. It is infamous for its ability to survive in harsh environments, including the sealed chambers of ancient tombs, where it can lie dormant for thousands of years.

When disturbed, the fungus releases spores that can cause severe respiratory infections, particularly in people with weakened immune systems. This may explain the so-called “curse” of King Tutankhamun and similar incidents, such as the deaths of several scientists who entered the tomb of Casimir IV in Poland in the 1970s. In both cases, investigations later found that A flavus was present, and its toxins were probably responsible for the illnesses and deaths.

Despite its deadly reputation, Aspergillus flavus is now at the centre of a remarkable scientific finding. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that this fungus produces a unique class of molecules with the potential to fight cancer.

These molecules belong to a group called ribosomally synthesised and post-translationally modified peptides, or RiPPs. RiPPs are made by the ribosome – the cell’s protein factory – and are later chemically altered to enhance their function.

While thousands of RiPPs have been identified in bacteria, only a handful have been found in fungi – until now.

The process of finding these fungal RiPPs was far from simple. The research team screened a dozen different strains or types of aspergillus, searching for chemical clues that might indicate the presence of these promising molecules. Aspergillus flavus quickly stood out as a prime candidate.

The researchers compared the chemicals from different fungal strains to known RiPP compounds and found promising matches. To confirm their discovery, they switched off the relevant genes and, sure enough, the target chemicals vanished, proving they had found the source.

Purifying these chemicals proved to be a significant challenge. However, this complexity is also what gives fungal RiPPs their remarkable biological activity.

The team eventually succeeded in isolating four different RiPPs from Aspergillus flavus. These molecules shared a unique structure of interlocking rings, a feature that had never been described before. The researchers named these new compounds “asperigimycins”, after the fungus in which they were found.

The next step was to test these asperigimycins against human cancer cells. In some cases, they stopped the growth of cancer cells, suggesting that asperigimycins could one day become a new treatment for certain types of cancer.

The team also worked out how these chemicals get inside cancer cells. This discovery is significant because many chemicals, like asperigimycins, have medicinal properties but struggle to enter cells in large enough quantities to be useful. Knowing that particular fats (lipids) can enhance this process gives scientists a new tool for drug development.

Further experiments revealed that asperigimycins probably disrupt the process of cell division in cancer cells. Cancer cells divide uncontrollably, and these compounds appear to block the formation of microtubules, the scaffolding inside cells that are essential for cell division.

Tremendous untapped potential

This disruption is specific to certain types of cells, so this may in turn reduce the risk of side-effects. But the discovery of asperigimycins is just the beginning. The researchers also identified similar clusters of genes in other fungi, suggesting that many more fungal RiPPs remain to be discovered.

Almost all the fungal RiPPs found so far have strong biological activity, making this an area with tremendous untapped potential. The next step is to test asperigimycins in other systems and models, with the hope of eventually moving to human clinical trials. If successful, these molecules could join the ranks of other fungal-derived medicines, such as penicillin, which revolutionised modern medicine.

The story of Aspergillus flavus is a powerful example of how nature can be both a source of danger and a wellspring of healing. For centuries, this fungus was feared as a silent killer lurking in ancient tombs, responsible for mysterious deaths and the legend of the pharaoh’s curse. Today, scientists are turning that fear into hope, harnessing the same deadly spores to create life-saving medicines.

This transformation, from curse to cure, highlights the importance of continued exploration and innovation in the natural world. Nature has in fact provided us with an incredible pharmacy, filled with compounds that can heal as well as harm. It is up to scientists and engineers to uncover these secrets, using the latest technologies to identify, modify and test new molecules for their potential to treat disease.

The discovery of asperigimycins is a reminder that even the most unlikely sources – such as a toxic tomb fungus – can hold the key to revolutionary new treatments. As researchers continue to explore the hidden world of fungi, who knows what other medical breakthroughs may lie just beneath the surface?

READ ORIGINAL STORY HERE

A Trove Of Ancient Artifacts From Egypt’s Last Dynasty Has Been Discovered In 63 Tombs

In this image provided by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, archaeologists observe the site where they discovered 63 mud brick tombs at the Tell al-Deir necropolis in Nile Delta town of Damietta, about 125 miles (200km) north of Cairo, Egypt. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery of the trove, which includes gold pieces, bronze coins and amulets on July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities via AP)

BY FATMA KHALED

CAIRO (AP) — A trove of ancient artifacts from Egypt’s last dynasty has been discovered in 63 tombs in the Nile Delta area and experts are working to restore and classify the finds, an official with the country’s antiquities authority said Monday.

The artifacts include gold pieces and jewelry dating back to Egypt’s Late and Ptolemaic periods, and some items could be displayed at one of the country’s museums, said Neveine el-Arif, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

An Egyptian archaeological mission with the Supreme Council of Antiquities discovered the mud-brick tombs at the Tell al-Deir necropolis in Damietta city in Damietta governorate, the ministry said in a statement last month.

Other items found in the area of the tombs include statues, funerary amulets and a pottery vessel containing 38 bronze coins dating back to the Ptolemaic period.

The Ptolemaic dynasty was Egypt’s last before it became part of the Roman Empire. The dynasty was founded in 305 B.C. after Alexander the Great of Macedonia took Egypt in 332 B.C. and one of his generals, Ptolemy, became Ptolemy I. Leadership was handed down through Ptolemy’s descendants and ended with Cleopatra.

Egypt exhibited artifacts from the Ptolemaic period for the first time in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in 2018, with around 300 artifacts on display.

CAIRO (AP) — A trove of ancient artifacts from Egypt’s last dynasty has been discovered in 63 tombs in the Nile Delta area and experts are working to restore and classify the finds, an official with the country’s antiquities authority said Monday.

The artifacts include gold pieces and jewelry dating back to Egypt’s Late and Ptolemaic periods, and some items could be displayed at one of the country’s museums, said Neveine el-Arif, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

An Egyptian archaeological mission with the Supreme Council of Antiquities discovered the mud-brick tombs at the Tell al-Deir necropolis in Damietta city in Damietta governorate, the ministry said in a statement last month.

Other items found in the area of the tombs include statues, funerary amulets and a pottery vessel containing 38 bronze coins dating back to the Ptolemaic period.

The Ptolemaic dynasty was Egypt’s last before it became part of the Roman Empire. The dynasty was founded in 305 B.C. after Alexander the Great of Macedonia took Egypt in 332 B.C. and one of his generals, Ptolemy, became Ptolemy I. Leadership was handed down through Ptolemy’s descendants and ended with Cleopatra.

Egypt exhibited artifacts from the Ptolemaic period for the first time in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in 2018, with around 300 artifacts on display.

Looted Ancient Sarcophagus Returned To Egypt From US

Mostafa Waziri, top official at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, takes a look with a magnifier at an ancient wooden sarcophagus during a handover ceremony at the foreign ministry in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Jan. 2, 2023. An ancient wooden sarcophagus that was featured at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences was returned to Egypt after U.S. authorities determined it was looted years ago, Egyptian officials said Monday. (AP Photo/Mohamed Salah)

CAIRO (AP) — An ancient wooden sarcophagus that was featured at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences was returned to Egypt after U.S. authorities determined it was looted years ago, Egyptian officials said Monday.

The repatriation is part of Egyptian government efforts to stop the trafficking of its stolen antiquities. In 2021, authorities in Cairo succeeded in getting 5,300 stolen artifacts returned to Egypt from across the world.

Mostafa Waziri, the top official at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the sarcophagus dates back to the Late Dynastic Period of ancient Egypt, an era that spanned the last of the Pharaonic rulers from 664 B.C. until Alexander the Great’s campaign in 332 B.C.

The sarcophagus, almost 3 meters (9.5 feet) tall with a brightly painted top surface, may have belonged to an ancient priest named Ankhenmaat, though some of the inscription on it has been erased, Waziri said.

It was symbolically handed over at a ceremony Monday in Cairo by Daniel Rubinstein, the U.S. chargé d’affaires in Egypt.

The handover came more than three months after the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office determined the sarcophagus was looted from Abu Sir Necropolis, north of Cairo. It was smuggled through Germany into the United States in 2008, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg.

“This stunning coffin was trafficked by a well-organized network that has looted countless antiquities from the region,” Bragg said at the time. “We are pleased that this object will be returned to Egypt, where it rightfully belongs.”

Bragg said the same network had smuggled a gilded coffin out of Egypt that was featured at New York’s Metropolitan Museum. Met bought the piece from a Paris art dealer in 2017 for about $4 million. It was returned to Egypt in 2019.

COP27: UN Chief Tells Climate Summit, Cooperate Or Perish

World leaders listen as their counterparts give speeches during the COP27 U.N. Climate Summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

BY SETH BORENSTEIN

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT (AP) — With the world on “a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator,″ the United Nations chief on Monday told dozens of leaders to ”cooperate or perish,” on avoiding further climate catastrophe, singling out the two biggest polluting countries, China and the United States.

He was not the only one preaching with tones of fire and brimstone, alternating with pathos and tragedy, trying to shake up the world’s sense of urgency at this year’s annual U.N. climate conference. “Choose life over death,” former U.S. Vice President Al Gore urged. “It is not time for moral cowardice.”

In calling for a massive overhaul of international development loans and a 10% tax on fossil fuel companies that made “$200 billion in profits in the last three months,” Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said, “Our people on this Earth deserve better.”

“I don’t need to repeat the horror and the devastation wrecked upon this Earth over the course of the last twelve months since we met in Glasgow,” Mottley said. “Whether the apocalyptic floods in Pakistan or the heat waves from Europe to China or indeed in the last few days in my own region, the devastation caused in Belize by Tropical Storm Lisa or the torrential floods a few days ago in St. Lucia.”

Ahead of this year’s conference, known as COP27, leaders and experts have been ringing alarm bells that time is fast running out to avert catastrophic rises in temperature. But the dire warnings may not quite have the effect as they have had in past meetings because of multiple other challenges of the moment pulling leaders’ attention — from midterm elections in the U.S. to the Russia-Ukraine war.

More than 100 world leaders will speak over the next few days at the gathering in Egypt, most from developing countries demanding greater accountability from the richest, most polluting nations. Much of their focus will be on telling their stories of being devastated by climate disasters, culminating Tuesday with a speech by Prime Minister Muhammad Sharif of Pakistan, where summer floods caused at least $40 billion in damage and displaced millions of people.

“Is it not high time to put an end to all this suffering,” the summit’s host, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, told his fellow leaders. “Climate change will never stop without our intervention... Our time here is limited and we must use every second that we have.”

El-Sissi, who called for an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, was gentle compared to a fiery United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said the world “is on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.”

He called for a new pact between rich and poor countries to make deeper cuts in emissions with financial help and phasing out of coal in rich nations by 2030 and elsewhere by 2040. He called on the United States and China — the two biggest economies — to especially work together on climate, something they used to do until the last few years.

“Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish,” Guterres said. “It is either a Climate Solidarity Pact – or a Collective Suicide Pact.”

Guterres insisted, “Today’s urgent crises cannot be an excuse for backsliding or greenwashing.”

But bad timing and world events hang over the gathering.

Most of the leaders are meeting Monday and Tuesday, just as the United States has a potentially policy-shifting midterm election. Then the leaders of the world’s 20 wealthiest nations will have their powerful-only club confab in Bali in Indonesia days later.

Leaders of China and India — both among the biggest emitters — appear to be skipping the climate talks, although underlings are here negotiating. The leader of the top polluting country, U.S. President Joe Biden, is coming days later than most of the other presidents and prime ministers on his way to Bali.

“There are big climate summits and little climate summits and this was never expected to be a big one,” said Climate Advisers CEO Nigel Purvis, a former U.S. negotiator.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was initially going to avoid the negotiations, but public pressure and predecessor Boris Johnson’s plans to come changed his mind. New King Charles III, a longtime environment advocate, won’t attend because of his new role. And Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin, whose invasion of Ukraine created energy chaos that reverberates in the world of climate negotiations, won’t be here.

“We always want more” leaders, United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell said in a Sunday news conference. “But I believe there is sufficient (leadership) right now for us to have a very productive outcome.”

In addition to speeches given by the leaders, the negotiations include “innovative” roundtable discussions that “we are confident, will generate some very powerful insights,” Stiell said.

The leaders showing up in droves are from the host continent Africa.

“The historical polluters who caused climate change are not showing up,” said Mohammed Adow of Power Shift Africa. “Africa is the least responsible, the most vulnerable to the issue of climate change and it is a continent that is stepping up and providing leadership.”

“The South is actually stepping up,” Adow told The Associated Press. “The North that historically caused the problem is failing.”

For the first time, developing nations succeeded in getting onto the summit agenda the issue of “loss and damage” — demands that emitting countries pay for damage caused by climate-induced disasters.

Nigeria’s Environment Minister Mohammed Abdullahi called for wealthy nations to show “positive and affirmative” commitments to help countries hardest hit by climate change. “Our priority is to be aggressive when it comes to climate funding to mitigate the challenges of loss and damage,” he said.

Monday will be heavily dominated by leaders of nations victimized by climate change — not those that have created the problem of heat-trapping gases warming up the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuel. It will be mostly African nations and small island nations and other vulnerable nations that will be telling their stories.

And they are dramatic ones, droughts in Africa and floods in Pakistan, in places that could least afford it. For the first time in 30 years of climate negotiations, the summit “should focus its attention on the severe climate impacts we’re already seeing,” said World Resources International’s David Waskow.

“We can’t discount an entire continent that has over a billion people living here and has some of the most severe impacts,” Waskow said. “It’s pretty clear that Africa will be at risk in a very severe way.’’

Leaders come “to share the progress they’ve made at home and to accelerate action,” Purvis said. In this case, with the passage of the first major climate legislation and $375 billion in spending, Biden has a lot to share, he said.

While it’s impressive that so many leaders are coming to the summit, “my expectations for ambitious climate targets in these two days are very low,” said NewClimate Institute’ scientist Niklas Hohne. That’s because of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine which caused energy and food crises that took away from climate action, he said.

___

Follow AP’s climate and environment coverage at
https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment



___

Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Biden Uses $130M In frozen Egypt Aid To Help Pacific Islands

President Joe Biden, third from left, speaks as he poses for photos with Pacific Island leaders on the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. From left, Micronesia President David Panuelo, Fiji Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, Biden, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape, and Marshall Islands President David Kabua. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

BY MATTHEW LEE AND AAMER MADHANI

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will pay for $130 million in new climate initiatives for Pacific Island nations by reallocating money that had originally been earmarked for military assistance for Egypt but withheld because of concerns over human rights abuses.

The State Department said it planned to reprogram money allotted for Egypt to pay for the Pacific Islands in a Sept. 29 memo to Vice President Kamala Harris and congressional leaders that was obtained by The Associated Press on Friday.

President Joe Biden announced a plan Thursday for the U.S. to spend $810 million over the next decade — including $130 million for climate resilience programming — to assist the islands as he met with more than a dozen leaders from the region at the U.S.-Pacific Island Summit. The administration is looking to put greater focus on the Pacific Islands amid heightened concern about China’s growing military and economic influence in the region.

“Recent actions by the People’s of Republic of China in the Indo-Pacific have highlighted that increasing U.S. engagement and activity is an urgent priority with major impact on U.S. national interests,” the State Department notification said.

The money reprogrammed was a portion of $1.3 billion in foreign military financing allotted for Egypt in the 2020 budget. The administration froze $130 million in funding over Egypt’s failure to improve human rights conditions.

Congress has a rule that a portion of the annual funding — around $300 million — to Cairo should be conditioned on the Egyptian government upholding basic human rights conditions.

But the Biden administration, like past administrations, has used its authority to issue a waiver to that rule on national security grounds and allow much of the funding to be sent to the Egyptian government.

The White House deferred comment on the decision to reprogram the funding to the State Department. State officials did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Leaders from Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia and New Caledonia attended this week’s two-day summit, which included a dinner with Biden at the White House. Vanuatu and Nauru sent representatives, and Australia, New Zealand and the secretary-general of the Pacific Island Forum sent observers.

The summit came amid worrying signs to the U.S. that Beijing has grown its influence in the region. Earlier this year, the Solomon Islands signed a new security pact with Beijing.

The State Department pointed to concerns about Beijing’s increasing sway in explaining its decision to reprogram the funding originally meant for Egypt.

“As the recent signing of a new PRC-Solomon Islands security agreement demonstrates, we may be in the early stages of an historic shift in the Pacific that would usher in a new security paradigm — one that is unfavorable to U.S. security interests, will frustrate our ability to effectively compete with the PRC, and will impede implementation of the Indo-Pacific Strategy,” the memo said.

Mubarak, Egypt's Autocrat Ousted By Protests, Dies At 91

In this Oct. 6, 1981 file photo, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, right, and Vice President Hosni Mubarak sit on the reviewing stand during a military parade just before soldiers opened fire from a truck during the parade at the reviewing stand, killing Sadat and injuring Mubarak. Egypt's state TV said Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, that the country's former President Hosni Mubarak, ousted in the 2011 Arab Spring uprising, has died at 91. Mubarak, who was in power for almost three decades, was forced to resign on Feb. 11, 2011, after following 18 days of protests around the country. (AP Photo/Bill Foley, File)

BY SAMMY MAGDY

CAIRO (AP) — Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian leader who was the autocratic face of stability in the Middle East for nearly 30 years before being forced from power in an Arab Spring uprising, died Tuesday, state-run TV announced. He was 91.

Mubarak was a stalwart U.S. ally, a bulwark against Islamic militancy and guardian of Egypt’s peace with Israel. But to the hundreds of thousands of young Egyptians who rallied for 18 days of unprecedented street protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and elsewhere in 2011, Mubarak was a latter-day pharaoh and a symbol of autocratic misrule.

His overthrow, however, plunged the country into years of chaos and uncertainty, and set up a power struggle between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood group that he had long outlawed. Some two and a half years after Mubarak’s ouster, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi led the military overthrow of Egypt’s first freely elected president and rolled back freedoms gained in the 2011 uprising.

State TV said Mubarak died at a Cairo hospital where he had undergone an unspecified surgery. The report said he had health complications but offered no other details. One of his sons, Alaa, announced over the weekend that the former president was in an intensive care after undergoing surgery.

El-Sissi offered condolences and praised Mubarak’s service during the 1973 war with Israel but made no mention of Mubarak’s almost three-decade rule as president of the most populous Arab state. He announced three days of national mourning beginning Wednesday.

“The Presidency mourns with great sorrow the former President of the Republic, Mr. Mohammed Hosni Mubarak,” he said in a statement. It referred to Mubarak as “one of the leaders and heroes of the glorious October war, as he assumed command of the Air Force during the war that restored dignity and pride to the Arab nation.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed “deep sorrow” over Mubarak’s death. “President Mubarak, a personal friend of mine, was a leader who guided his people to peace and security, to peace with Israel,” Netanyahu said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Mubarak “spent his life serving his homeland and the issues of righteousness and justice in the world, with the issue of our Palestinian people at the top of them.”

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the United Arab Emirates also released statements offering condolences and mourning Mubarak.

Born in May 1928, Mubarak was vice president on Oct. 14, 1981, when his mentor, President Anwar Sadat, was assassinated by Islamic extremists while reviewing a military parade. Seated next to Sadat, Mubarak escaped with a minor hand injury as gunmen sprayed the reviewing stand with bullets. Eight days later, the brawny former air force commander was sworn in as president, promising continuity and order.

Over the next three decades, as the region was convulsed by one crisis after another, Mubarak was seen as a steady hand and a reliable U.S. partner against Islamic extremism. He sent troops as part of the U.S.-led coalition in the 1990-1991 Gulf war and contributed to efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Within Egypt he presided over slow but steady economic growth and largely kept the country out of armed conflicts after decades of war with Israel. Unlike his predecessors, both Sadat and Egypt’s towering nationalist leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, Mubarak pursued no grand ideology beyond stability and economic development.

Over the years, Mubarak tinkered with reform but shunned major change, presenting himself as Egypt’s sole protection against Islamic militancy and sectarian division. The U.S., particularly under President George W. Bush, pressed for democratic reforms but was wary of alienating a key ally.

Under Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood was banned but largely tolerated. All political power, however, was concentrated in the hands of Mubarak and his ruling party, and emergency laws imposed after Sadat’s assassination remained in place for decades. Criticism of the president or the military was forbidden, Islamist and secular dissidents were regularly jailed, and the police were notoriously brutal and corrupt.

Egyptian authorities — both then and now — argue that tough measures are needed to preserve stability in a volatile region. Islamic militants carried out several attacks on police, Christians and foreign tourists throughout Mubarak’s rule, including an attempted assassination of the president himself during a visit to Ethiopia in 1995.

The failure to fulfill repeated promises of change steadily deepened public despair. Those seeking a democratic future were dismayed to see Mubarak making apparent moves to groom his businessman son, Gamal Mubarak, for a dynastic succession.

“At multiple points during Mubarak’s reign, he had the opportunity to reform the Egyptian state,” H.A. Hellyer, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, tweeted. “He didn’t.”

The Jan. 25 uprising “didn’t come out of nowhere — it was the result of many years of pent-up anger at how the state was failing the citizenry, save a tiny slice at the top,” he added.

Inspired by the first Arab Spring revolt in Tunisia, protesters took to the streets in January 2011. They harnessed the power of social media to muster tumultuous throngs, unleashing popular anger over the graft and brutality that shadowed Mubarak’s rule.

In the end, with millions massed in Tahrir Square and other city centers, and even marching to the doorstep of Mubarak’s palace, his resignation was announced on Feb. 11, 2011. The generals took power, hoping to preserve what they could of the system he had led.

Though Tunisia’s president fell before him, the ouster of Mubarak was a watershed moment in the history of the region, and gave impetus to uprisings in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain.

Over the next two years Egypt held a referendum on an amended constitution, as well as parliamentary and presidential elections. Turnout was high as enthusiastic Egyptians got their first taste of democracy. But the Muslim Brotherhood emerged victorious again and again, raising fears among their opponents that the country would be transformed into an Islamic state.

The struggle came to a head in the summer of 2013, when the military removed President Mohammed Morsi, a senior Brotherhood figure, from power amid mass protests against his divisive rule. The military assumed power and launched an unprecedented crackdown on dissent. El-Sissi was elected president the following year. Rights groups and activists say his rule has proved far more oppressive than Mubarak’s.

“In a lot of ways, Mubarak’s legacy will be mixed,” said Steven A. Cook, a senior fellow in Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Egyptians are taking stock of their abilities to voice their views on the state of their lives, and realizing they were safer doing that in 2010 than in 2020.”

Mubarak was jailed shortly after his overthrow and later relocated to a military hospital as he went on trial in an array of cases. The televised images of Mubarak on a stretcher in a defendant’s cage were in sharp contrast to the portraits of the leader that had hung from billboards during his long rule.

For the man who was long untouchable — even a word of criticism against him in the media was forbidden for much of his rule — prison was a shock. When he was flown from the court to Torah Prison in Cairo in 2011, he cried in protest and refused to get out of the helicopter.

In June 2012, Mubarak and his security chief were sentenced to life in prison for failing to prevent the killing of some 900 protesters during the 18-day uprising. Both appealed the verdict and a higher court later cleared them in 2014.

The following year, Mubarak and his two sons — wealthy businessman Alaa and Mubarak’s one-time heir apparent Gamal — were sentenced to three years in prison on corruption charges during a retrial. The sons were released in 2015 for time served, while Mubarak walked free in 2017. Following his release, he was taken to an apartment in Cairo’s Heliopolis district, where he lived until his death.

Mubarak is survived by his wife, Suzanne, his two sons and four grandchildren.

Associated Press writers Isabel DeBre in Cairo and Joseph Krauss in Jerusalem contributed.

Egyptians Vote On Changes That Would Extend El-Sissi's Rule

Voters line up to enter a polling station in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 20, 2019. Egyptians are voting on constitutional amendments that would allow el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

BY SAMY MAGDY

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptians went to the polls Saturday for the first of three days of voting on constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030 and broaden the military’s role.

Critics have blasted the proposed changes as another major step toward an authoritarian government perhaps even more severe than that of former President Hosni Mubarak, whose nearly three decades of autocratic rule was ended by a popular uprising in 2011.

The nationwide referendum came amid an unprecedented crackdown on dissent in recent years. El-Sissi’s government has arrested thousands of people, most of them Islamists but also prominent secular activists, and rolled back freedoms won eight years ago.

Prominent Egyptian newspaper columnist Abdullah Al Sennawy decried the amendments as a threat to the country’s stability. He said they would increase the government’s grip on power and erode the balance between authorities currently in place.

“Changing the constitution reflects the weakness of the regime. It is a sign that the regime is close to its end, such as what happened in Sudan and Algeria,” he said.

Voting will stretch over a period of three days to allow maximum turnout, which the government is hoping to lend the referendum legitimacy.

Mahmoud el-Sherif, spokesman of the National Elections Authority, said more than 61 million people are eligible to vote. Results were expected within a week, el-Sherif said in a news conference.

Outside a polling center near the Giza Pyramids, around two dozen people, mostly elderly women, lined up waiting to cast their votes. Heavy police and army security was reported at polling stations throughout the country.

Haja Khadija, a 63-year-old housewife, said she came for the “security and stability” of the country. “We love el-Sissi. He did lots of things. He raised our pensions.”

Casting his ballot on Saturday, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly urged voters to turn out in high numbers. He said that voting will reflect “the atmosphere of stability and democracy that we are witnessing now.”

State-run TV said el-Sissi voted in Cairo’s Heliopolis district, near the presidential palace. El-Sissi, who has repeatedly said he won’t stay in office any longer than the people want him to, hasn’t commented on the amendments.

Opposition voices have largely been shut out amid the rush to hold the referendum. Pro-government media have led a campaign for weeks calling a “Yes” vote a patriotic duty.

Since early April, the Egyptian capital has been awash with large posters and banners encouraging people to vote in favor of the changes. Most of the posters were apparently funded by pro-government parties, businessmen and lawmakers.

Parliament, packed with el-Sissi supporters, overwhelmingly approved the amendments on Tuesday, with only 22 no votes and one abstention from 554 lawmakers in attendance. The national electoral commission announced the following day that voting would begin on Saturday.

The proposed changes are seen by critics as another step toward authoritarianism. The referendum comes eight years after a pro-democracy uprising ended autocrat Hosni Mubarak’s three-decade rule, and nearly six years after el-Sissi led a popular military overthrow of the country’s first freely elected but divisive Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi.


Two international advocacy groups — Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists — on Saturday urged the Egyptian government to withdraw the amendments.

“Egypt’s autocracy is shifting into overdrive to re-establish the ‘President-for-Life’ model, beloved by dictators in the region and despised by their citizens,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “But it’s a model that recent experience in Egypt and neighboring countries has demonstrated is not built to last.”

The Civil Democratic Movement, a coalition of liberal and left-leaning parties, urged people to participate in the referendum by voting “No.”

The coalition said it used social media to spread its message, noting that it was banned from hanging banners in the streets to call on voters to reject the amendments.

The amendments extend a president’s term in office from four to six years and allow for a maximum of two terms. But they also include an article specific to el-Sissi that extends his current second four-year term to six years and allows him to run for another six-year term in 2024 — potentially extending his rule until 2030.

Novelist Omar Knawy voted “No” in the referendum. He said he opposes most of the changes, especially those that would enable el-Sissi to stay in power beyond his current second four-year term. He also opposes articles that declare the military the “guardian and protector” of the Egyptian state, democracy and the constitution.

“The article related to the military gives it the right to interfere (in politics) at any time, and I am against such article,” he told The Associated Press.

El-Sissi was elected president in 2014, and re-elected last year after all potentially serious challengers were either jailed or pressured to exit the race.

The amendments also allow the president to appoint top judges, while also granting military courts wider jurisdiction in trying civilians.

In the last three years, over 15,000 civilians, including children, have been referred to military prosecution in Egypt, according to Human Rights Watch.

The amendments also introduce one or more vice presidents, revive the senate and enshrine a 25% quota for women in parliament’s lower, legislative chamber. All three had been dropped from Egypt’s constitution after the 2011 revolution.

Egypt: Crackdown Against Peaceful Critics Set To Worsen If Constitutional Amendments Are Passed

Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Egypt’s authorities must end their crackdown against critics who oppose amendments to the Egyptian constitution, proposed by members of parliament, that will strengthen impunity for human rights violations, said Amnesty International. Many of those who have criticized the changes have been arrested or publicly vilified in the media.

The organization is today publishing an analysis of the constitutional amendments which are currently being discussed by the Egyptian parliament. If passed, these measures will undermine the independence of the judiciary, expand military trials for civilians and could allow President Abdel Fattah to stay in power until 2034.

“If passed, these constitutional amendments would worsen the devastating human rights crisis Egyptians are already facing. They would grant President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and security forces free rein to further abuse their powers and suppress peaceful dissent for years to come,” said Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.

“The Egyptian parliament has a responsibility towards Egyptians to preserve what remains of the country’s judicial independence and adherence to international law and reject the proposed amendments.”

A parliamentary vote on the amendments is due in the coming weeks and if passed – the new draft constitution will be put to a public referendum.

“Since President al-Sisi came to power human rights in Egypt have catastrophically deteriorated. Egypt’s international allies must not stand by silently as the Egyptian authorities push through these amendments while bullying anyone who dares to criticize the changes into silence. In particular, the US authorities should use President al-Sisi’s visit to Washington DC this week to publicly condemn the proposed changes.”

President al-Sisi is due to meet with President Donald Trump during a visit to Washington DC on 9 April.

In its analysis Amnesty International expresses concern that the amendments would strengthen the influence of the Egyptian military over government, remove the requirement for judicial review of draft legislation, as well as expanding notoriously unfair military trials for civilians and granting the President sweeping powers to manage judicial affairs and appoint senior judges.

Other amendments that have drawn criticism from opponents are the plans to extend the presidential term to six years and introduce a provision allowing President al-Sisi to run for two further presidential terms.

Crackdown targeting critics

The amendments have attracted considerable criticism including from a number of public figures, human rights organizations, political parties and the State Council Judges Club. The authorities have responded by intensifying their crackdown on freedom of expression, targeting people who have voiced opposition to the amendments with arbitrary arrest and detention, defamation and even cyber-attacks.

More than 57 people have been arrested so far in 2019, with Egyptian NGOs citing higher figures, for peacefully expressing their opinions or merely being perceived to do so – at least four of them for expressing their opposition to the constitutional amendments on social media.

The arrests have followed a pattern repeatedly documented by Amnesty International whereby the victims are arrested without warrants in the early hours of the morning, before being forcibly disappeared for several days. They later reappear before a state security prosecutor who orders their detention pending investigation on charges of “membership in terrorist groups” and “disseminating false information”.

Several public figures – including some members of parliament - who have expressed their opposition to the amendments have been widely criticized in public and private media and been subjected to smear campaigns. Some opponents have faced homophobic slurs, as well as calls, including from fellow members of parliament, for their prosecution for “treason” and for their Egyptian nationality to be revoked.

Amnesty International has also documented a wave of phishing attacks, that likely originated from government backed bodies, targeting independent media organizations and human rights defenders who reported on the authorities, including the role of the General Intelligence Service, in pushing for the constitutional amendments.

Last week, on 28 March, a court prevented activists from the Civil Democratic Movement, an opposition movement, from holding a protest against the constitutional amendments in front of parliament. Egypt’s Minister of Interior filed a request asking the court not to grant permission for the protest on the basis that it could “threaten public peace and security”. The court decision cited concerns that “anti-state elements may infiltrate the protest and assault the protestors, in order to frame security forces as assaulting protestors”.

“The intimidation and harassment of people who peacefully express their opinions, including those critical of the constitutional amendments, has to end now,” said Magdalena Mughrabi.

“Instead of stepping up this vicious crackdown against peaceful critics, Egypt’s authorities should scrap these amendments and ensure that any proposed future changes do not violate the country’s human rights obligations under international law.”

For more information please contact: Sara Hashash, MENA Media Manager on sara.hashash@amnesty.org or +44 (0) 203 036 5566

Egypt Arrests Activists After Commemoration Of Uprising

Abdel Fattah el Sisi of Egypt.

BY SAMMY MAGDY

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt has rounded up at least six activists in the last couple of days in a wave of arrests coinciding with the anniversary of the 2011 uprising, a rights lawyer said Wednesday.

Authorities have waged a sweeping crackdown on dissent in recent years, reversing freedoms won in the popular uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Security is especially tight around the anniversary of the Jan. 25 uprising and public commemorations of it are largely banned.

Negad Borai, the lawyer, said that among those arrested in the past two days is Yehia Hussein Abdel Hady, the former spokesman of the Civil Democratic Movement. The coalition of secular and left-leaning political parties had called for a boycott of Egypt’s presidential election last year.

The other five activists were arrested on Monday after they attended a ceremony commemorating the uprising, Borai said.

The five were members of the Karama, or Dignity, party founded by opposition leader Hamdeen Sabahi, the only candidate who ran against President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in the 2014 presidential election.

The whereabouts of the six activists are still unknown, Borai said. A spokesman for Egypt’s Interior Ministry, which oversees police, did not respond to phone calls and messages seeking comment.

It is not clear if the activists are among 54 people who authorities said Tuesday were detained for plotting to foment chaos on the anniversary of the uprising.

The Interior Ministry said those individuals, most of them alleged members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, were arrested over the past weeks in different locations.

The Muslim Brotherhood won a series of elections after the 2011 uprising. Mohammed Morsi, a senior Brotherhood member, was elected president in 2012 but was overthrown by the military the following year amid mass protests against his rule.

Authorities have since branded the group a terrorist organization and have arrested thousands of its members, sentencing many of its top leaders, including Morsi, to life sentences or death.

The latest arrests came just two days after French President Emmanuel Macron urged respect for human rights in a meeting with el-Sissi during a state visit to Cairo.

El-Sissi, who led the overthrow of Morsi in 2013, was elected president the following year. He won re-election last year after all serious potential rivals were arrested or pressured into withdrawing from the race.

In recent years authorities have banned all unauthorized protests, blocked hundreds of websites and silenced nearly all independent media.

The government has said such measures are needed to restore stability and combat an insurgency in the northern Sinai Peninsula that has gained strength since 2013.

Slain Journalist Captured Libya's Turmoil

In this Thursday, Jan. 9, 2015 file photo, a Libyan honor guard stands at attention during the arrival of U.N. Special Envoy to Libya Bernardino Leon in Tripoli. The work of photographer and video journalist Mohamed Ben Khalifa, who was killed in Libya on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019, reflected Libya's post-2011 chaos of rival militias fighting for control as well as the humanitarian tragedy of waves of people fleeing North Africa, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. (AP Photo/Mohamed Ben Khalifa, File)

CAIRO (AP) — Mohamed Ben Khalifa’s work as a photographer and video journalist captured the tragedy of refugee corpses washing ashore on Libya’s coastline. In urban centers, he documented ferocious militia warfare.

In one photo, a wave rolls gently over the arm of a dead refugee. In another, a love letter written on pink paper is seen next to the body of a Syrian refugee found on the beach of Ben Khalifa’s hometown of Zuwara, west of the Libyan capital. In others, gunfire rages, lighting up the night sky.

The work of Ben Khalifa, who was killed in Libya on Saturday, reflected Libya’s post-2011 chaos of rival militias fighting for control as well as the humanitarian tragedy of waves of people fleeing North Africa, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.

He was killed on Saturday while accompanying a militia on patrol in southern Tripoli. The group came under fire and attack by a missile, according to a fellow freelance journalist. Ben Khalifa was killed by shrapnel.

His body of work since 2014 for the AP included more than 260 photos and scores of videos. A freelancer, he also contributed to other news organizations.

“The Associated Press is distraught by the death of freelance photographer Mohamed Ben Khalifa, who had contributed important, impactful photos from Libya to AP since 2014. Our thoughts are with his family, especially his wife and young daughter, and we offer our deepest condolences,” said AP’s Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Sally Buzbee and Ian Phillips, the news agency’s vice president for international news.

“It is heartbreaking any time a journalist is killed on the job. AP works closely with its freelance and staff journalists to try to ensure their safety. The safety of journalists everywhere is paramount, especially those who are working in the most dangerous of places,” they said in a statement.

Ben Khalifa, 35, also covered routine stories, such as visits by diplomats trying to negotiate a peace deal for Libya. The country splintered in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising and civil war that led to the ouster and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

With his sharp eye for detail, Ben Khalifa captured the attempts by ordinary Libyans to carve out normal lives amid the turmoil of the past decade. In one photo, a little boy in a traditional embroidered jacket looks at Ben Khalifa’s camera, facing away from rows of male worshippers sitting in Tripoli’s Martyrs’ Square for Muslim holiday prayers. Another shows a wedding ceremony.

But violence was a constant theme in Ben Khalifa’s work, A 2018 photo showed the damage caused by a suicide bombing at Libya’s election commission. A photo taken in late December showed the aftermath of a suicide attack on Libya’s Foreign Ministry.

Ben Khalifa is survived by his wife, Lamya, and their 7-month-old daughter, Rayan.

Here is a selection of some of his best work for the AP since 2014.

Egypt Increases Fuel Prices, As Part Of Austerity Measures

Taxi drivers chat as they refuel their vehicles at a gas station in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt announced Saturday, June 16, 2018 steep increases in fuel and cooking gas prices as part of the country's economic reforms and austerity measures designed to overhaul the country's ailing economy.

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt announced Saturday steep increases in fuel and cooking gas prices as part of the country's economic reforms and austerity measures designed to overhaul the country's ailing economy.

The new prices went into effect Saturday morning, the Ministry of Oil said in a statement. Prices for cooking gas increased from 60 to 100 pounds (from $3.30 to $5.60) per cylinder for commercial use, a more than 60-percent increase. The price for home use rose from 30 to 50 pounds ($1.68 to $2.80) per cylinder.

Ninety-two octane gasoline increased from 5 pounds to 6.75 pounds (from 28 cents to 38 cents) per liter, or about a 34-percent increase. Eighty octane gas increased from 3.65 to 5.5 pounds (from 20 cents to 31 cents) per liter, nearly a 50 percent increase.

Ninety-five octane gasoline increased from 6.6 pounds to 7.75 pounds (from 37 cetns to 43 cents), or nearly 17.5 percent. The authorities also raised transportation fares by up to 20 percent on Saturday, according to state-run news agency MENA.

This is the third time the government has increased fuel prices since austerity measures were announced late 2015. The move is likely to send prices soaring further. The new hikes will save up to 50 billion pounds ($2.8 billion) from funds allocated for state subsidies in the country's 2018-19 budget, Oil Minister Tarek el-Molla said.

Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said in a separate statement that slashing fuel subsidies was necessary to help bridge the country's general budget deficit as oil prices continue to surge, topping $80 per barrel.

The authorities made the increases as Egyptians have been celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that comes at the end of the holy month of Ramadan. They likely fear the hikes could cause protests similar to when dozens of people demonstrated against an increase in fares for the Cairo metro in May.

Citizens took to social media to protest the price hikes; authorities banned all unauthorized demonstrations nearly five years ago. Opposition legislator Haitham el-Harirri said slashing fuel subsidies will be followed by more "heavy" price hikes, especially for food and transportation.

"While I don't oppose the economic reforms, they could be implemented gradually and in a better way to avoid the disastrous impact on poor people," he told The Associated Press. In recent weeks, authorities raised metro fares by up to 250 percent, drinking water by up to 45 percent and electricity by 26 percent.

The hikes come as Egypt presses ahead with a broader economic reform program that has included slashing subsidies, imposing a value-added tax and a currency flotation. The measures were aimed at qualifying for a three-year $12 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund, which Egypt secured in 2016.

The tough austerity measures have won praise from economists and business leaders but have come as a heavy blow to poor and middle-class Egyptians. Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the architect of the economic reforms — which none of his predecessors dared implement — defended his government's decision to slash subsidies.

He said that the government spends some $18.6 billion a year on subsidies to cover fuel, food and electricity. Each family receives an average of about $60, he said. Egypt's economy is still recovering from unrest following the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt Detains Activist Blogger Amid New Wave Of Arrests

Provided by Roger Anis, prominent activist and blogger Wael Abbas signs a copy of his book, “The theory of leaving the bowl,” in Cairo, Egypt. Egyptian security officials said Abbas, known for documenting police abuse, was detained, Wednesday, May 22, 2018, the latest in a new wave of arrests since elections earlier this year. The officials said Abbas was held on accusations of disseminating false news and joining an outlawed group, among other charges. (Roger Anis via AP)

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian activist and blogger known for documenting police abuse was detained on Wednesday, security officials said, the latest in a new wave of arrests following elections earlier this year.

Wael Abbas was taken from his home in a Cairo suburb on accusations that include disseminating false news and joining an outlawed group, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights said police raided Abbas' home at dawn, seizing his computer and mobile phones. It says he was blindfolded before being taken to an unknown location. Abbas has campaigned against torture in Egypt for well over a decade, before and after the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak. He has published graphic videos showing torture and police abuse on his blog, misrdigital.com, and has been detained on a number of occasions.

His YouTube account was shut down in 2007, resulting in the removal of hundreds of videos showing protests and abuses by security forces. In December, he wrote on Facebook that Twitter had suspended his account without providing an explanation.

Amnesty International on Wednesday condemned Abbas' detention on Twitter, saying his arrest is part of a crackdown by Egyptian authorities on freedom of expression. Authorities have arrested a number of secular activists since President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was re-elected to a second four-year term in March. He faced no serious challengers, after several potentially strong candidates were arrested or intimidated into withdrawing from the race.

Earlier this month, Egyptian police arrested two prominent activists, Shady el-Ghazaly Harb and Haytham Mohamedeen, on an array of charges including belonging to an outlawed group and insulting the president. Shady Abu Zaid, a young comedian, was arrested on accusations that include spreading false news.

The latest arrests come amid a wider crackdown on dissent since el-Sissi led the military overthrow of a freely elected but divisive Islamist president in 2013. Thousands of people have been jailed, unauthorized protests have been banned and hundreds of websites, including many run by independent journalists and rights activists, have been blocked.

The government has said such measures are needed to restore stability and combat an insurgency in the northern Sinai Peninsula that has gained strength since 2013 and is now led by the Islamic State group.

On Tuesday, a military court sentenced a freelance journalist who reported on the Sinai insurgency to 10 years in prison on terror-related charges. Ismail Alexandrani was convicted of spreading false news and joining an outlawed group.

International rights groups condemned the sentence and urged his release. "Hauling a journalist before a military court not only violates his rights as a civilian but sends a chilling message to the media that independent coverage of political dissent and security threats will not be tolerated by Egypt's rulers," said Robert Mahoney, of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Sarah Leah Whitson, of Human Rights Watch, said the verdict "exemplifies the government's vicious retaliation against journalists who report on sensitive issues."

Four More Years Of Censoring Culture In Egypt

BY EDMUND BOWER

Cairo-based artist Chanel Arif uses humans and their surroundings as her canvas. Image via The Atlantic.

CAIRO (THE ATLANTIC)--One evening last month, Russian belly-dancer Eicatrina Andreeva was performing at a floating nightclub on the Nile River. Toward the end of her act, her manager noticed a middle-aged man in a leather jacket who stood out against the touristy crowd. “I knew he was a cop straight away,” the manager said. “I begged him, ‘Please, just let her finish her set. Give her 15 minutes.’” The policeman obliged. When Andreeva stepped offstage, she was taken to jail.

Her four-day detention and subsequent fine were based on accusations of “inciting debauchery” after a video of a previous performance—during which she wore a revealing outfit—went viral. (This charge was later conflated with irregularities in her work permit.) Now free and still in Cairo, Andreeva may have got off lightly. Her manager, who asked not to be named for fear of attracting unwanted government attention, said that in his line of work there’s always been tension with the authorities, but that “it’s increasing these days.”

The current president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is seeking reelection this week in a race he’s nearly guaranteed to win. Since he took power from the Muslim Brotherhood in a coup in 2013, the number of journalists and activists in jail has spiked as dissent against his regime has been roundly crushed; many of Sisi’s would-be presidential challengers are now in detention or awaiting trial. But the president hasn’t stopped at stamping out voices critical of him—he’s gone after apolitical liberal expression, too. Egypt has witnessed a crackdown on the arts, including dance, music, comedy, and theater. “There has been an increase in repression and attempts to essentially clamp down on free expression,” said James Lynch, the deputy director of Transparency International, an organization that has tracked Sisi’s career since before his first election in 2014.

Artists like Andreeva are being swept up in the assault. Although this was not unheard of under former president Hosni Mubarak, the Sisi regime goes after a wider array of people on the fringes of mainstream society. It has launched campaigns against LGBT people, atheists, and the country’s Shia and Baha’i minority communities. The current president is a lot more focused than his predecessor on currying favor with the masses—including religious supporters of his ousted Muslim Brotherhood rivals.

In a religious country like Egypt, the state has political points to gain by showing off its conservative credentials. So, whereas locking up popular artists on apparently flimsy pretexts may seem like a bad move in an election year, Timothy Kaldas, a fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, said it’s quite the opposite: Such arrests are part of a concerted effort on behalf of the Sisi regime to play a more active role in policing liberal society. “Doing this allows them to make that statement: ‘Just because we’re not Brotherhood, doesn’t mean we don’t care about our traditions or our values,’” Kaldas explained.

Having seized power in the wake of a second popular revolution, the military-led government under Sisi is wary of the Egyptian population in a way the Mubarak regime wasn’t. “Everyone knew that everyone hated Mubarak in 2011,” Kaldas said, “but people figured it didn’t matter.” It turned out that it did—Mubarak was overthrown in a popular uprising that year. “What happened in 2011 gave people in the state the impression that it could matter that everyone hates you. And so Sisi would prefer to avoid that. I think there’s more pressure to show off.”

Yet the turmoil of the post-revolutionary period hasn’t exactly created the conditions for a happy population. Sisi is ending his first term with Egypt suffering from double-digit inflation, a hugely devalued currency, and sky-high unemployment and poverty levels. Faced with this intimidating list of economic problems, the state seems to have focused even more effort on the low-hanging fruit of policing liberal society, as Kaldas put it, “to show you’re doing something. It will make headlines and it’s something that the people will talk about instead of inflation for a bit.”

But while such actions no doubt serve to reassure the country’s more conservative elements, it’s too cynical to see this as just playing to the gallery. Despite its fervent opposition to Islamist rule in Egypt, the military-led government in Cairo is itself far from secular. “I don’t think there’s any reason to think that military rule is much less conservative than the Islamists,” said Kaldas. Sisi is overtly pious, with a subtle mark on his forehead from frequent praying face-down on the ground. Indeed, it was arguably Sisi’s religiosity that led the Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi to first assign him to the prominent post of defense minister. “Your average person in the Armed Forces or the security apparatus has a pretty conventional patriarchal and conservative view when it comes to religion,” said Kaldas.

Ever since he became president, Sisi signaled that this is how things would be under his administration. Shortly after Sisi took office, Bassem Youssef, the nation’s foremost satirical TV host, often referred to as the Jon Stewart of Egypt, announced the end of his nightly show. Youssef, who had previously been reluctantly permitted to broadcast his show under Morsi, cited concerns for his family’s safety, telling reporters at the time: “The present climate in Egypt is not suitable for a political satire program.”

Since then it’s become clear that other comedians face censorship in Egypt, too. Last month saw the cancellation of Saturday Night Live Arabia, an Egyptian sketch show based on the American version, but purged of all political references. Egypt’s media-regulation body accused it of violating “ethical and professional criteria” through repeated “sexual phrases and insinuations.” The creators of the show declined to comment for this story.

Singers have also become targets. A famous Egyptian singer who goes by the name Sherine made headlines late last year after a recording emerged of her joking about one her songs, “Have You Drunk From the Nile?” in which she questioned the wisdom of drinking from a river that has historically suffered from water-borne parasites. “Drink Evian instead,” she said with a laugh to a group of fans in the United Arab Emirates. In February, these comments earned her a six-month prison stretch for insulting the country and, according to the court, “spreading fake news.”

In December, a lesser-known performer, Shyma, was sentenced to two years for her music video “I Have Issues,” in which she appears eating fruit suggestively. Another singer was picked up in January after releasing a song titled after a play on words with an Arabic profanity. Both stand accused of “inciting debauchery and immorality.”

And this month, hours before the opening performance of “Before the Revolution,” a play intended to be showcased as part of Cairo’s Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival, director Ahmed al-Attar called off the show in the face of government censorship. His decision followed the arrest of six people earlier this month for a play that was deemed to be insulting to the security forces.

With the Sisi regime all but certain to take power for another four years this week, the future for liberal artistic expression in Egypt looks bleak. For many Egyptians trying to maintain their culture, everyday life is marked by the need to watch over one’s shoulder for who may be listening in. “Nobody’s safe anymore,” Andreeva’s manager said. “Nobody.”

Egypt Opposition Coalition Calls For Boycott Of March Vote

Presidential candidate Moussa Mustafa Moussa of the Ghad, or Tomorrow, party, talks during a press conference at his office in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Jan. 29, 2018. Moussa submitted his candidacy documents to the election commission on Monday, becoming a last-minute challenger to President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.



CAIRO (AP) — A coalition of eight Egyptian opposition parties and some 150 pro-democracy public figures called on voters Tuesday to boycott the March presidential election, saying it amounts to an "absurdity bordering on madness" and arguing that the handling of the vote by authorities resembled "old and crude dictatorships."

The incumbent, general-turned-president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, is virtually certain to win a second, four-year term in the March 26-28 vote, sweeping aside a face-saving, would-be candidate whose last-minute participation spared the government the embarrassment of a one-candidate election yet drew a torrent of criticism and mockery on social media.

The call for a boycott by the Civilian Democratic Movement came just days after five opposition figures, including a 2012 presidential candidate and two top campaign aides for now-arrested presidential hopeful Sami Annan, called on voters to stay away from ballot boxes and on Egyptians not to recognize the vote's outcome.

The ideology of the eight parties is rooted in the 2011 uprising that toppled the 29-year regime of autocrat Hosni Mubarak. They also supported the massive June 2013 protests against Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, which paved the way for the military's ouster of him the following month. Now, they and others are sidelined by el-Sissi, who has in the last four years been focused on containing an insurgency by Islamic militants and reviving a battered economy, while overseeing one of the largest crackdowns against dissent in the country's living memory.

The parties have limited support on the ground, in large part due to restrictions on their activities placed by security agencies. Their call for a boycott, however, carries symbolic significance and could invite protest votes by the many Egyptians victimized by the soaring prices caused by el-Sissi's ambitious economic reforms or encourage voters to stay home, an easy option given that the incumbent is certain to retain his job until 2022.


The parties said their young members came up with the slogan "stay home" for their boycott campaign. Speakers for the parties did not say what they intend to do to make their call for a boycott effective, but they are helped by the country's track record of extremely low turnout for referendums or elections whose outcome is a foregone conclusion. El-Sissi, for his part, has in recent weeks repeatedly urged Egypt's estimated 60 million registered voters to cast their ballots, suggesting that he needed a high turnout to accord his election credibility.

After a string of would-be challengers were arrested, forced out or quit the race, the prospect of a one-candidate election had cast a dark cloud on the election, something that el-Sissi's campaign said the president should not be blamed for.

Moussa Mustafa Moussa, a little known politician and a staunch supporter of el-Sissi, submitted his documents to be a would-be candidate Monday, just minutes before the election commission's deadline. Moussa is the leader of the Ghad, or Tomorrow, party, which does not have a single seat in parliament.

Many Egyptians saw his attempts to portray himself as a genuine rival to el-Sissi as a hard sell. He told a news conference Monday night that he did not intend to be a "prop" in the election and that his participation was not a "courtesy." He said his party had decided weeks ago to field a candidate, but changed its mind when former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq declared his intention to run. "What could we do when two peaks like el-Sissi and Shafiq are fighting it out," he said. The party went back and decided to contest the election when Shafiq dropped out, he claimed.

Moussa was until just days ago a staunch supporter of el-Sissi'e re-election, repeatedly stating that the president's track record qualifies him to be at the helm for four more years. "It is not right for us to surrender to what has become an absurdity bordering on madness," Abdel-Geleel Mustafa, a veteran opposition figure, told a news conference at one of the parties' headquarters in Cairo.

Hamdeen Sabahy, who finished a distant second behind el-Sissi in the 2014 election, called on other pro-democracy groups to join the coalition. "Come and let us stand together. This is a moment when the people will make their say known and, God willing, the say of the people will prevail," he told the news conference.